No Fed Meeting Today

With respect to what is probably nonsense chatter over the prospect of a Fed meeting today, note that there is no meeting scheduled for today. Note also that when inter-meeting rate cuts are usually precipitated by a telephone conference call, not a physical meeting.

Moreover, the Fed is normally predisposed to a telephone conference call when it occurs, as per the Federal Open Market Committee meeting that preceding the conference call.

Such was the case on Jan. 3, 2001, for example, when the Fed began a series of rate cuts with an inter-meeting cut. The minutes for that telephone conference show that the Fed was predisposed to a cut, probably more so than at last week's FOMC meeting. Here are the minutes of the January 2001 conference call:

At its meeting on Dec. 19, 2000, the Committee had contemplated the possibility that ongoing economic and financial developments might warrant a reassessment of the stance of monetary policy prior to the next scheduled meeting in late January.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors (not the FOMC, but the governors that make up the FOMC; no Reserve Bank presidents attend) meets much more regularly than most know - they meet most weeks, in fact. As I said earlier, there was no meeting scheduled for today, as indicated on the Fed's Web site.

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Tony Crescenzi is the chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co., LLC, and advises many of the nation's top institutional investors on issues related to the bond market, the economy and other macro-related issues. At the request of the Federal Reserve, Crescenzi is a regular participant in the board's Livingston Survey of economic forecasters. He is also the author of the revised investment classic, The Money Market, first published in 1978 by Marcia Stigum, and The Strategic Bond Investor. At the time of publication, Crescenzi or Miller Tabak had no positions in the securities mentioned in this column, although holdings can change at any time. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Crescenzi also is the founder of Bondtalk.com, a popular Web site covering the bond market and the economy. Crescenzi appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.

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